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Yuuuuuuge news! Trump photo back at Schnitzel Haus

Yuuuuuuge news! Trump photo back at Schnitzel Haus
Photo by Jordan Rathkopf

They’re making Bay Ridge great again!

Owners of German restaurant Schnitzel Haus have returned a controversial photo of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to its rightful place on their wall after bowing to complaints to remove it last week. Restaurateurs removed the signed head shot of the Donald that graced the eatery’s walls for nearly a decade after patrons kvetched that the divisive White House hopeful’s mug was ruining their appetites. But then they got flak from conservatives for bowing to liberal pressure, and so, fed up with the hoopla, the owners decided to put the picture back up on Aug. 6 — because their First Amendment rights trump all, one said.

“At the end of the day, it’s our restaurant, and it’s our right and privilege to have it up,” said Amber Urban, who operates the German gaststätte with her husband. “It’s not up to others what we can and can’t do. It’s our choice.”

But the controversy did not stop there — someone used lipstick to scribble a mustache and devil horns on the real-estate mogul’s face on Aug. 7, Urban said. The losers ought to find a better use of their time, she said.

“It’s a picture on the wall for god’s sake,” Urban said. “Don’t people have more important things to do?”

Trump gave the signed photo to the Urbans in 2007 after visiting the recently opened restaurant to wish them luck on their business venture, but no one complained about it until the Donald got the Republican party’s nod in the 2016 presidential race. They took it down after complaints from customers and bad reviews on websites such as Yelp.com.

Since this paper first broke the story last week, people from across the country who have never visited the restaurant — and likely never will — have called Urban to exercise their own First Amendment rights, she said.

“I got into an argument with one man from Texas over the phone — it’s just insane,” she said. “I’m very done with all this nonsense.”

Reach reporter Caroline Spivack at mspivack@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–2517. Follow him on Twitter @carolinespivack.